Belmore Hotel, corner of Phillip and Albert Streets Circular Quay, Sydney. The pub was later known as the First and Last Hotel. Photo: Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University.
A Snake in the bar
A COUPLE of blokes who enjoyed a morning tipple at their ‘early opener’ down by Circular Quay, got a good laugh out of a frightened barmaid one Autumn day in 1937.
When a four-foot snake slithered into the ladies’ parlour of the Belmore Hotel at 9.15am, scaring the barmaid, it prompted one skeptical drinker out in the public bar to remark: “It’s a bit too early in the day for snakes”. His mate, also believing it a joke, added: “Remind us again at six o’clock to-night”.
But the city-dwelling snake was indeed genuine, reported the Grafton Daily Examiner on March 22 1937.
The reptile was found curled up on a seat, by employee Jack Cooper, who held it down with a broom handle, while a passing policeman killed it with his baton.
The Belmore Hotel was better known – before its closure – as the First and Last Hotel. It traded at the corner of Phillip and Albert Streets before its demolition.
Categories: animals, Barmaids, Sydney hotels
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